Hat-box.



T. CANTV.

HAT BOX.

(Application filed Jan. 3, 1899.)

(Ne Medel.)

F?? WILKJJeeS; [WJ/anion' i Nl e F l. 2 1

NITED STATES THOMAS OANTY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

HAT-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 651,231, dated une 5, 1900.

Application filed January 3. 1899.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that l, THOMAS OANTY, of Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to receptacles for hats, and it is especially designed for ladies hats, although applicable for holding hats of any kind.

The invention is designed especially as an improvement upon the hat-box of Letters Patent No. 612,642, granted Octobei1 18, 1898, to Mary A. Ftsell.

The objects I have in view are, rst, to adapt the device for application to a box of rectangular, triangular, or other polygonal form and so arrange it in connection therewith as to form a brace or support in one corner of the box that materially stiffens and strengthens the box; second, to provide a hat-support that may be formed of a single piece of Wire, and is therefore cheap and easily constructed, and which may be readily raised fromthe box when it is desired to remove the hat supported thereon, so as to bring it above the top of the box and in position in which it may be readily lifted oif from the support; third, to provide a cover of textile or other material for the part of the bracket or hat support upon which the hat rests when in position in the box, and, fourth, to provide means upon the'hat-support for fastening or securing the hat to said hat-support whereby in transporting boxes containing hats the hats are retained upon said hat-support no matter how roughly the boxes may be handled or in what position they may be placed.

To the above-mentioned ends the invention consists generally in the constructions and combinations hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure lis a transverse section of a hat-box and hat-support constructed in accordance with myinvention, the section being taken diagonally through the box on line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section of the box on line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the slideway or grooved strip in which the hat-support is Walls, as shownin Figs. 5 and 6.

Serial No. 700,916. (No model.)

lnounted and in which it is free to slide. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a hat-support. Fig. 5 is a horizontal detail section,'looking upward, of a corner of a box with the grooved slideway arranged therein. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical sect-ion of the grooved slide- Way, showing a modified arrangement of the groove. Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical section of the upright or sliding part of the hatsupport, showing a modified form adapted to be applied to the modified slideway shown in Fig. 6.

In the drawings, 2 represents a box of any suitable construction and formed of any suitable material and preferably provided with the ordinary slip-cover 3. Thisbox is preferably of rectangular form, and it is preferably constructed of pasteboard or other light thin material, such as is ordinarly employedfor the `construction of Vhat-boxes.

4 represents a slideway, preferably formed of a piece of light wood, having vertical side walls the planes of which are at right angles to each other. The rear surface of the strip may be hollowed out, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5, and 6, for the purpose of lightening the slideway Without decreasing the strength thereof. The front of the slideway is also provided with the central vertical groove 5, at each edge of which is the lateral groove 6, having preferabl)T curved or rounded bottom The slideway is arranged, preferably, in one corner of the box, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and it is firmly secured therein by gluing or other- Wise attaching it to the inner surfaces of the Walls of the box. This slideway, in connection with the Walls of the box, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, forms a hollow triangular column at the corner of the box, which has practically thel same bracing effect as a solid triangular column Would have on the same area in cross-section arranged at the same point. By this means the box is very materially braced and strengthened, and sidewise or vertical distortion or crushing of the box is thereby practically prevented and the box is rendered iirm and strong and is equal in strength to an ordinary box formed of much heavier and stiffer material, and, besides, it furnishes a brace for the hat-support.

The hat-support is preferably formed of a ICO single piece of wire, and consists ot'V a slide 7, preferably made in the form of a rectangular loop, adapted to iit in the groove 5 and have its sides engage the groove and to tit closely into said grooves. The walls of the slide may be sprung outward or inward, as desired to make the slide fit more or less closely into the grooves in the slideway, and thereby the slide will be held at any desired point in the slideway. It will in use ordinarily be pushed down when supporting a hat until its lower end rests against the bottom of the box. From the lower end of the slide 7 there is a forward] y-proJ ectin g arm 8, preferably curved upward and having the hat-supporting ring 0 formed upon or secured to its end. This arm may be of any suitable form and of any desired or suitable length, and the ring 9 may be of any suitable size that will adapt it to fit within the crown of the hat that it is designed to support. This ringis preferably covered by a textile tubelO, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings, 0r, if preferred,

it may have a covering of rubber or other suit-able material.

When preferred, the slideway may be formed with the exterior grooves 6, the central groove 5 being omitted, as shown in Fig. 6, and the inner surfaces of the sides of the slide 7 may be adapted to engage said grooves, as illustrated by Figs. 6 and 7of the drawings.

In some instances it is desired to transport hats in the hat-boxes, and for this purpose I provide means by which the hats may be so fastened upon the hat-supports as to be incapable of being shaken or thrown therefrom, and thereby injury to the hats in transportation is prevented without any special packing being necessary. I have shown in Figs. l, 2, and 4 of the drawings the means that I prefer to employ for this purpose. This means consists, preferably, of the springholders 11, preferably formed of spring-wire or other suitable material and having the loops 12, adapted to be sprung over and engaged with the ring of the hat-support, as

shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4 of the drawings. These holders are adjustable to any desired position upon the ring of the hat-support, and two or more of such holders may be employed. They are preferably provided at their lower ends with the spring-pins 13, formed by providing the loops or coils let in said holders and forming sharpened points to the wires, so as to adapt them to engage the inner surfaces of the walls of the crown of a hat, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawings. The spring-holders 1l are preferably formed from a single piece of wire, and in order that the spring-pins 13 may be braced to prevent lateral or swaying movement of the hat when suspended within the box I prefer to twist the ends of the Wire composing the spring-holder together at a point just above where the wire is looped to form the spring-pins. After the hat is placed upon the support the pins are caused to engage the inner walls of the crown of the hat, and thereby the hat is firmly and securely fasteuedin position upon the support, so that it will be thereafter impossible to shake or throw it therefrom. Vhen the hat-box is used merely for the purpose of keeping the hat, the fasteners may be removed or they may be swung inward, so that the ends of the pins do not come in contact with the hat either in placing it on or removing it from thehat-support.

Various modifications of the fastener and of the form of the hat-support and the slideway by which it is held will suggest themselves to persons familiar with my invention. Hence I do not limit myself to the details of construction herein shown and described. It will also be obvious. that the hatsupport herein 'shown and described and the fasteners for said supports may be employed in connection with a box of triangular or other polygonal or circular form and with a slideway of any preferred or suitable constructionsuch, for example, as that shown and described in the Etsell patent hereiubefore referred to.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a box of rectangular, triangular or other polygonal form, of a vertical slideway secured to the walls of the box near the corner thereof, whereby said slideway forms, with the corner portions of the walls of the box, a vertical triangular bracingcolumn, and an adjustable hatholder supported upon said slideway, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a box of rectangular, triangular, or other polygonal form, having its walls formed of thin material, of a slideway formed of rigid material and secured to the inner surfaces of the walls of the box near a corner thereof, whereby said slideway forms, with the corner portions of the walls of the box, a triangular bracing-column for said box, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a box of rectangular, triangular, or other polygonal form, having its walls formed of thin material, of a vertical slideway 4t having its side walls arrangedin planes at right angles to each other and secured to the inner surfaces of the side walls of the box near a corner thereof, said slideway being provided with a grooved iuner surface adapted to receive a hat-support, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the box and the vertical grooved slideway secured thereto, of the hat-support having a vertical rectangular slide capable of expansion and contraction and adapted to fit and be moved upon said slideway, for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with a suitable box and a hat-supporting ring arranged therein, said ring being adapted to fit within the crown of a hat, of hat-fasteners arranged upon said ring and adapted to engage the in- IOO IIC

ner surface of the crown, and horizontally adjustable upon said ring, for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with a hat-support adapted to fit within the crown of a hat, of a hat-fastener attached to said support and adapted to engage its point or points with the inner surface of the crown of the hat and by means of the tension of a spring or springs pressing said point or points downward, or away from the top of the crown of the hat, to hold the hat in positionon its support, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with a vhat-support adapted to fit within the crown of a hat, of hat-fasteners arranged upon said support and having points or parts adapted to engage the inner surface of the crown of a hat and hold the same in position with a yielding pressure, and said hat-fastener being horizontally adjustable upon its support, substantially as described.

S. The combination, with a ring hat-support adapted to ft within the crown of a hat,

of a'hat fastener attached to said support and arranged to engage its point or points with the inner surface of the crown of the hat and by means of the tension of a spring to press said point or points downward or away from the top of the crown of the hat, for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination, with a hatsupport adapted to fit within the crown of a hat, of the pins or ngers having spring connections with said support and adapted to be adjusted within the hat to engage the same and thereafter acting to draw and hold the hat down upon said support.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of December, 1898.

THOMAS CANTY. In presence of- A. C. PAUL, M. C. NooNAN. 

